Gut health for kids – what you need to know

Gut health for kids – what you need to know

Gut health for kids – what you need to know2017-11-292018-10-16http://www.wholeheartedfamilyhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/wholehearted-family-health-logo-final.jpgWholehearted Family Healthhttps://www.wholeheartedfamilyhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/untitled-design.png200px200px

Jo Atkinson is a degree-qualified nutritional medicine practitioner who specialises in family health, with a focus on gut health in particular, and she is a mum of three healthy kids herself.

In this video interview, she gives an overview of the importance of gut health for kids, how gut health can influence conditions such as eczema, constant infections, allergies, autoimmune conditions, poor sleep and behavioural problems, as well as some top tips for improvement. She also has a special offer for our wholehearted mums (see summary below if you prefer not to view the video).

What is the gut and why is it so important?
When I’m referring to the gut I’m talking about the physical aspect, i.e. the mouth, stomach, intestines and all the way out, as well as what is within those, such as stomach acid, enzymes and gut microbiota (the bacteria found in that environment).

How might an unhealthy gut present itself/what symptoms might you see?
This is really important to focus on when dealing with a condition or illness because it can be the underlying cause for many different conditions such as eczema, behavioural and/or sleep problems, constipation, food intolerances and even autoimmune disorders. All of these can be caused by an imbalance in the gut, or when the gut isn’t working well and is unable to eliminate things. I like to work from a perspective of gut health as a baseline; looking at what is happening there and then working outwards.

What is the number one thing we can do to improve gut health in our children?
I see a lot of parents who are feeling overwhelmed and have heard about gut health and tried various treatments or diets, and usually what I say to these parents is, you need to go back to basics. Yes, there are many different diets you can go on – elimination diets with foods to avoid or add in etc, but I encourage people to go back to basics; meat, vegetables, fruit and real, whole foods.

There are foods that the child may be reacting to, for example, dairy is a big one for eczema, and once you have realised there is a link there, you may then remove that food for a period of time and work on gut health and the immune system before slowly re-introducing that food. I would never recommend that anyone try doing an elimination diet on their own; firstly because it can be overwhelming but also, I see a lot of kids who can only eat five or ten different foods because they have tried an elimination diet and then cut all these foods out and can’t add them back in because they keep reacting to them.

So go back to basics first and cut out additives, preservatives, packaged food and reduce the sugar, then you have a baseline to work with, the body can come back to understanding what real food is, process the information from that food and then go from there. That is where I like to start, and from there I go to a food symptom journal, (you can get them online) and look at any link between particular foods and reactions. I really encourage people to work with a practitioner on that and get some testing done before taking food out.

How do we know if we have a healthy gut?
The first thing to look at, especially for kids, is bowel movements. If you have a child who is having issues with constipation, diarrhoea or changing bowel movements, or you are seeing undigested food, mucous or blood, that is an indicator that something isn’t right. I know once kids are toilet trained we don’t like to think about their poo, but I would encourage you to check because it is a really good sign of what is going on in their gut. What we are aiming for is a regular – at least once a day – well-formed, solid bowel movement, that is easy to pass with very little undigested food, and no blood or mucous. If we know that is the norm then we know what to look for when it comes to the abnormal.

There can be a whole range of things that cause problems including parasites, food intolerances, and a lack of water, and again we have to go back to basics. For example, if the child is constipated, ask yourself have they had enough water, fruit, vegetables etc today? Or, if it is a chronic condition, that is where I would say get some help. It is common, and lots of people say don’t worry about it, but it’s not normal and it’s not good for their body to be doing that on a regular basis. Other issues such as eczema, rashes, behavioural problems etc can be linked to gut function because the gut is really important in the production of neurotransmitters and hormones. It is all linked and gut health affects all of those processes in the body.

What should we eat for optimal gut health?
What gut bacteria like to eat is whole fruits and vegetables with lots of fibre, and a whole range of them, as well as legumes, pulses and beans. We have to go back to the basics – meat, vegetables and whole foods – because that is what the body knows what to do with. I like to say that food is information and the body knows what to do with it. If we add in lots of processed foods, additives and trans fats, firstly they are not natural and secondly, they can have an impact on the health of gut bacteria by altering their DNA and their activity. So, reduce processed foods and increase whole foods, it doesn’t get much simpler than that!

Special offer
I am offering a free 20-minute phone consultation if you have any concerns or questions relating to your child’s (or your own!) gut health, we can chat and see if I am the right person to help you. I am also offering a $99 initial nutritional medicine consultation if booked before Christmas.

Andrea is a midwife, child health nurse and creator of Wholehearted Family Health, an online wellness hub for WA mums interested in natural health and parenting. It is her mission to bridge the gap between mainstream and complementary health, to enable mamas to access holistic health information and care for their families.